Evans took Berinkas to five sets, remember? - and he did manage to pull himself back after going 6-0 down against Grigelis. Just a bit unfortunate for him that, for the second DC running, the outcome hinged on his performance in the fifth rubber. It takes a pretty mentally tough player to cope with that sort of pressure. Grigelis managed it but Evans didn't. I feel sorry for him because his game has improved considerably since the Poland tie and hopefully the mental strength will come in time.

Quite relieved this morning that the press aren't slamming Andy the way I dreaded they might.The whole situation at the LTA needs looking at, long and hard - Andy has very strong ideas about the lack of committment and expectation in UK. He can never understand why the facilities at Roehampton are so empty at weekends.

I think the main problem is John Lloyd... we need someone in who makes good decisions at the right times, seems that John is all lost at sea. I know we don't have many options with players but a good coach will find the best in the people we have.

But we DIDN'T have. And "enough" is not good enough. You need the BEST team to win, not an "enough" team.

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did you hear what Overend was saying?

I did. It made no sense. He said our players did their best, but we need better players. That's stupid. What we need is for our players to play better. Why can't they? What's wrong with them? What's wrong with their training? What's wrong with their motivation?

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We have a national budget of 25 million pounds per annum, Lithuania have £90,000. Evans and Ward use world class facilities at Roehampton, they should have been good enough.

Right. They SHOULD have been. They should BE! So why AREN'T they? It obviously needs more than money. It needs determination. It needs dedication. Where does that come from?

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What I love about Andy Murray is his single mindedness

So where was it in his last match? He was rubbish, and didn't even regret it afterwards. Where is his game going? I was utterly shocked and horrified. He completely let us down. We pay good money to watch him make SOME effort, not NO effort.

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- his ambition is to win grand slams,

Yeah. Federer thinks THAT's a joke!

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not to play nobodies in aircraft hangars.

Yeah but he MIGHT win playing against nobodies, AND for HIS country. Does he WANT his country to be a laughing stock?

I don’t follow that. Are you saying that tennis players don’t care if they have no fans and if nobody in the crowd cheers for them?

How on earth did you work that out? I'm saying that, while tennis players have countries listed next to their names on draw sheets and the like, the titles they win are not attributed to their nation, but to the players themselves. DC is a national team competition, but other than that there's just the World Team Championships that actually involve playing for your country.

But we DIDN'T have. And "enough" is not good enough. You need the BEST team to win, not an "enough" team.

I did. It made no sense. He said our players did their best, but we need better players. That's stupid. What we need is for our players to play better. Why can't they? What's wrong with them? What's wrong with their training? What's wrong with their motivation?

Right. They SHOULD have been. They should BE! So why AREN'T they? It obviously needs more than money. It needs determination. It needs dedication. Where does that come from?

So where was it in his last match? He was rubbish, and didn't even regret it afterwards. Where is his game going? I was utterly shocked and horrified. He completely let us down. We pay good money to watch him make SOME effort, not NO effort.

Yeah. Federer thinks THAT's a joke!

Yeah but he MIGHT win playing against nobodies, AND for HIS country. Does he WANT his country to be a laughing stock?

I'm sorry but your insistence that Andy put himself through futile and unnecessary exertion for the current DC team is ludicrous. Try seeing the bigger picture, will you? He has a singles career to worry about, which he doesn't need jeopardised in any way by traipsing off to some outpost to fight in a losing battle.

As for his single-mindedness - surely his decision to use Dubai as a training event shows that he has his eye on bigger things for himself?

As far as I'm concerned, Andy put his body through the mill for his country against Poland last year, won both his singles matches and yet we still lost. Lloyd has probably told Andy that he doesn't expect him to play until we're in a far better position, and facing quality teams again.

As far as I'm concerned, Andy put his body through the mill for his country against Poland last year, won both his singles matches and yet we still lost. Lloyd has probably told Andy that he doesn't expect him to play until we're in a far better position, and facing quality teams again.

Yes, I'm sure Lloyd knows the score. He played at the pinnacle once, so he ought to understand Andy's reasoning, even if publicly he has to fight for the team and the integrity of the competition.

As far as I'm concerned, Andy put his body through the mill for his country against Poland last year, won both his singles matches and yet we still lost. Lloyd has probably told Andy that he doesn't expect him to play until we're in a far better position, and facing quality teams again.

The fact that the LTA give Andy the green light to get on with his career and excused him from DC duty says it all, and Andy has confirmed he's still committed to playing for GB - if and when we pull ourselves out of the tennis wilderness. He says, quite rightly, that our other players will learn nothing so long as he is carrying them.

I think the main problem is John Lloyd... we need someone in who makes good decisions at the right times, seems that John is all lost at sea. I know we don't have many options with players but a good coach will find the best in the people we have.

This is why we need somebody like Rusedski. Somebody who has the enthusiasm to energise players and instil some discipline into them, as well as making good judgments (e.g. he said whilst commentating during the Poland tie that he thought Fleming should play the crucial final rubber and not rookie Evans). We do have some material there, but it cannot be moulded by a captain/coach who acts like Mother Hen, which Lloyd does. However, it was perhaps unfortunate for him that Jamie Baker got injured because, as I said before, Baker has already proved his worth, and accordingly to Lloyd "he was on fire" during training.